Rochester police target property crime

ROCHESTER — Despite a notable decrease in burglaries in 2012, police efforts to fight property crime continues, particularly when it comes to shoplifting and theft from vehicles.

While burglaries were an issue of concern a year ago — when police reported they increased by about 20 percent between 2010 and 2011 — the numbers of reported burglaries have decreased through 2012.

Police report a 25-percent decrease in burglaries between 2011 and 2012. In 2011, 191 burglaries were reported, and 24 arrests were made. In 2012, 144 burglaries were reported, and 23 arrests were made.

Also, police throughout the past year have been capitalizing on information sharing, among shifts and among neighboring police departments.

“It’s critical we communicate with other agencies who may have similar crimes,” said Toussaint.

He said “burglary sprees” in particular are typically not confined to just one jurisdiction.

Chelsey ZeRuth, crime analyst at the Police Department, said she has also spent time looking at past suspects, and seeing if their profile matches up to the more recently reported crimes.

She said it’s typical to have multiple burglaries committed by the same person. Using information sharing to apprehend a burglary suspect early on tends to prevent that person from committing further burglaries, thus preventing crime sprees, said Toussaint.

Despite success in addressing burglaries, property crime overall has increased in the city by 4 percent in 2012. Reports of shoplifting went up by 31 percent, and thefts from vehicles went up by 40 percent.

Toussaint said traditionally, shoplifting had not been a type of crime to which the police department paid a strong attention. In the past, police have left it to businesses’ loss prevention department to catch that type of crime and prevent theft.

But with shoplifting numbers steadily increasing through 2012, police have recently begun publicizing arrests made on willful concealment charges. A willful concealment charge refers to a shoplifting offense, and is defined as a type of theft, in which a person hides an item in a store with the purpose of stealing that item.

Police now release the names and booking photos of shoplifting suspects to Foster’s.

“If we make it public knowledge ... maybe we’ll have a preventive effect,” said Toussaint.

The Police Department is also collaborating with city businesses on establishing an online database on shoplifting activity. Once the website is up and running, businesses will be able to share what type of suspicious activity and shoplifting incidences occur at their stores.

Toussaint said shoplifting tends to occur at bigger area stores such as Walmart, as well as local convenience stores.

ZeRuth said loss prevention departments in area stores have been stepping up security, and reporting more theft to police.

In terms of statistics showing a 31-percent increase in shoplifting, ZeRuth said it’s difficult to tell whether more people are committing the crime, or whether stores are simply reporting more shoplifting instances to police.

The largest increase in property crime in 2012 was thefts from vehicles, which went up by 40 percent over last year.

Toussaint said that for many years, the police department has been working to convince residents to lock their vehicles and hide any valuables, but officers can’t force drivers to take precautions.

Previously, Police Chief Mike Allen said more than 90 percent of thefts from vehicles occur when the vehicles are unlocked.

“We are looking at this as a crime of opportunity,” said Toussaint, who said that more often than not, suspects go from one vehicle to another, seeing which car has a door unlocked.

He said that places in which residents can keep their cars and homes unlocked are a thing of the past.

“The culture has changed,” he said. “This isn’t 1955 anymore.”

Vandalism, which has been a police concern in years past, has decreased by 12 percent over the past year. Several years ago, police battled with weeklong vandalism sprees, such as those involving BB guns being shot at property. Those sprees, said Toussaint, have not occurred in years, as far as he remembers.

Now, vandalism consists of a person ripping someone else’s shirt during an argument, or throwing someone’s cell phone on the ground and breaking it, said ZeRuth.

In Rochester, violent crime is traditionally not an issue of concern, and Toussaint noted that in general, residents have reason to feel safe in the Lilac City.

Violent crime did go up by 2 percent over the past year, but aggravated assault went down by 34 percent. In 2011, 612 violent offenses were reported, and 83 of them were aggravated assault, as opposed to robbery, homicide, or simple assault. In 2012, 623 violent offenses were reported, and 55 of them involved aggravated assault.

“We don’t see a lot of random victims of aggravated assault,” said Toussaint.

He said assault in the city typically happens among people who know each other. A large proportion also involves domestic violence.